['Fire Protection and Prevention', 'Emergency Planning - OSHA']
['Fire Protection and Prevention', 'Fire Prevention Inspections', 'Emergency Preparedness']
03/13/2024
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A fire on a construction jobsite can cause injury and death. Aside from the human toll, fires can damage equipment, jobsite structures, and nearby buildings and homes. Fire can not only destroy the construction work that has been completed, it can halt work and cause serious delays that affect the project’s completion.
Scope
OSHA’s fire protection and prevention rules apply to all companies performing construction work.
Regulatory citations
- 29 CFR 1926.24 — Fire protection and prevention.
- 29 CFR 1926 Subpart F — Fire protection and prevention.
Key definitions
- Approved: Equipment that has been listed or approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as Factory Mutual Engineering Corp., or Underwriters’ Laboratories, Inc., or Federal agencies such as Bureau of Mines, or U.S. Coast Guard, which issue approvals for such equipment.
- Closed container: A container so sealed by means of a lid or other device that neither liquid nor vapor will escape from it at ordinary temperatures.
- Combustion: Any chemical process that involves oxidation sufficient to produce light or heat.
- Fire brigade: An organized group of employees that are knowledgeable, trained, and skilled in the safe evacuation of employees during emergency situations and in assisting in fire fighting operations.
- Fire resistance: So resistant to fire that, for specified time and under conditions of a standard heat intensity, it will not fail structurally and will not permit the side away from the fire to become hotter than a specified temperature. For purposes of this part, fire resistance shall be determined by the Standard Methods of Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials, NFPA 251-1969.
- Flammable: Capable of being easily ignited, burning intensely, or having a rapid rate of flame spread.
- Flammable liquid: Any liquid having a vapor pressure not exceeding 40 pounds per square inch (absolute) at 100°F (37.8°C) and having a flashpoint at or below 199.4°F (93°C). There are four categories of flammable liquids.
- Flash point of the liquid: The temperature at which it gives off vapor sufficient to form an ignitable mixture with the air near the surface of the liquid or within the vessel used as determined by appropriate test procedure and apparatus as specified below:
- The flashpoint of liquids having a viscosity less than 45 Saybolt Universal Second(s) at 100°F (37.8°C) and a flashpoint below 175 °F (79.4 °C) shall be determined in accordance with the Standard Method of Test for Flash Point by the Tag Closed Tester, ASTM D-56-69 (incorporated by reference per 1926.6), or an equivalent method as defined by 1910.1200 Appendix B.
- The flashpoints of liquids having a viscosity of 45 Saybolt Universal Second(s) or more at 175°F (79.4°C) or higher shall be determined in accordance with the Standard Method of Test for Flash Point by the Pensky Martens Closed Tester, ASTM D-93-69 (incorporated by reference per 1926.6), or an equivalent method as defined by 1910.1200 Appendix B.
- Liquefied petroleum gases, LPG and LP gas: Includes any material which is composed predominantly of any of the following hydrocarbons, or mixtures of them, such as propane, propylene, butane (normal butane or isobutane), and butylenes.
- Portable tank: A closed container having a liquid capacity more than 60 U.S. gallons, and not intended for fixed installation.
- Safety can: An approved closed container, of not more than 5 gallons capacity, having a flash-arresting screen, spring-closing lid and spout cover and so designed that it will safely relieve internal pressure when subjected to fire exposure.
- Vapor pressure: The pressure, measured in pounds per square inch (absolute), exerted by a volatile liquid as determined by the Standard Method of Test for Vapor Pressure of Petroleum Products (Reid Method), ASTM D-323-58.
Summary of requirements
Employers must:
- Develop and maintain an effective fire protection and prevention program.
- Ensure the availability of the fire protection and suppression equipment.
- Periodically inspect and maintain the fire protection and suppression equipment in operating condition.
- Replace defective equipment immediately.
- Provide a trained and equipped firefighting organization (fire brigade), as warranted by the project, to assure adequate protection to life.
- Provide a temporary or permanent water supply to properly operate the firefighting equipment, as soon as combustible materials accumulate.
- Determine the number and type of portable firefighting equipment needed.
- Install automatic sprinkler protection (if the facility being constructed includes it) and the installation must closely follow the construction and be placed in service as soon as possible.
- Retain automatic sprinkler installations in service during demolition or alteration as long as reasonable.
- Build and maintain standpipes, where required, as soon as possible.
- Establish a fire alarm system.
- Give priority to construction of required fire walls and exit stairways.
- Hang fire doors, with automatic closing devices, as soon as practicable.
- Retain fire cutoffs until operations require their removal.
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['Fire Protection and Prevention', 'Emergency Planning - OSHA']
['Fire Protection and Prevention', 'Fire Prevention Inspections', 'Emergency Preparedness']
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